All About Human Trafficking

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I wanted to share this article with everyone

This is an article regarding a interview of a survivor of domestic servitude that NPR did this weekend. I think this article will help many of us see that the trends in the U. S are changing. I can tell you from personal experience what we have noted here in Florida.
In the last 3 years, we here at F.C.A.H.T have noticed a couple of different things. We have noticed an increase in males being trafficked for labor (hotels, country clubs, construction and agriculture) In the last three years a majority of our clients have been males. A majority of the males that we have worked with in the last 3 years have all come from Southeast Asia.

Most people believe that many of the victims that are brought into the U.S were smuggled into the country. In the past this was true. However, in the last three years we have noted another change. From the clients that F.C.A.H.T has worked with, 95% of them entered the country with a visa. A majority of them entered with a work visa and a handful of them entered either under a student visa or a tourist visa. The majority of our clients arrived through the airports and not the borders. One of the things that we have noticed is the fact that by the time the victims are identified and rescued, their visa have expired as the victims have no means to return to their home country. This is an issue that is rising here in Florida. This is an issue that does not seem to be getting any better.

In regards to women and children, we have also noted a change in trends. When it comes to foriegn born victims, we have noticed that most of the women and children brought into Florida are exploited in labor and domestic servitude. A majority of the community believes that many women and children are brought in from other countries to be exploited in the sex industry. However in the last 3 years we have not found that to be true in Florida. A majority of the women that F.C.A.H.T is currently working with were used in forced labor rings or as domestic slaves. Only a handful were used in the sex industry. I know for many this is hard to believe. We have found more women being exploited by working in hotels and country clubs than by sex traffickers. And as mentioned previously, all of our female clients came into the country with some type of visa. Now I can tell you that yes there are still some females thatwere brought into the Country with a false promise only to be used in the sex industry but not as much as in previous years.

Now what we mainly see being exploited in the sex industry now days are U.S citizens. Most of the sex trafficking cases we now of here in Florida involve U.S Citizens and not women and children from other countries. We have seen an increase in what we call domestic minor sex trafficking. D.M.S.T is when a U.S citizen or lawful permanent resident who has is under the age of 18 and is engaged in a commercial sex act. Most times, when people speak of child sex trafficking, the first thing they think about are the children in Thailand and Cambodia. However, this too is happening to our youth. Girls as young as twelve years old are being sold for sex here in the U.S. Unfortunately our children tend to be ignored while children in other countries seem to receive the most attention and services.

One of the things that I ask of you the reader, is to understand that the business of human trafficking is ever-changing. The moment we shine a spotlight on one issue, the traffickers will find a way to continue making money off of exploiting people. Take the time to learn more about what is happening in your own backyard. I truly believe that until we can take care of our own problems with trafficking domestically, we will not be able to fully address the issue that is happening around the world. So take the time and learn about what each organization is doing to fight human trafficking domestically. See how you can help, whether it is by volunteering or donating money. And the next time you see a young woman involved in the sex industry, instead of labeling her a ho, take the time and see why she is involved in this. You may be surprised to find out that she is actually being forced to partake in this industry. Don’t be so quick to judge.

Please read the article below:
Human Trafficking In The U.S.: One Woman’s Story
by Sara Lerner
This year, for the first time ever, the U.S. included itself in the State Department’s annual report on human trafficking. The report said the U.S. has a serious problem with human trafficking — a practice they call the equivalent of modern-day slavery, including commercial sex exploitation and forced labor — as a source country, and as a destination for victims.
“We think of trafficking as this huge network of organized crime, which it can be, but it can also just be a couple that wanted a nanny but didn’t want to pay for it,” says Kathleen Morris, who heads the Washington state Anti-Trafficking Response Network.
Read The Report
State Department’s Trafficking In Persons Report
Human trafficking victims do more than just sex work. In fact, the majority work as forced laborers in all kinds of industries, from construction to agriculture or housekeeping.
Seven years ago, Washington became the first state in the nation to make human trafficking a crime on the state level. Now 44 states have a similar law and — just in the past few years — there’s been a flurry of legislative activity all across the country to address the issue. Dozens of new laws increase criminal penalties for traffickers and require better help for victims of coercion and force.
An Offer That Seemed Promising
In a Seattle suburb, one woman from East Africa was tricked and ended up working virtually as a domestic slave. She can’t use her name or even say which country she’s from. If she reveals who the perpetrators are, they could come after her or, worse, hurt her family back in her home country, which is where this all began.
Sadly, her story is somewhat typical. Although she doesn’t like to talk about it, she is doing so now “because I want other people who are going through this same situation that I had before to be careful about it,” she says.

I was responsible for everything, except only their body they washed by themselves. But I was responsible for everything. … Why did these people do this to me? It really make me sad when I remember this story.
– A woman from East Africa, whose named has been withheld to protect her and her family
In her home country, she took care of a wealthy woman’s house. They got along so well that the woman asked her to go to the U.S. and work for her relatives, who are from this same country.
But she said no. She didn’t want to leave her kids. Her boss persisted, but she kept refusing. Then, the woman offered to put her daughters in boarding school.
“Boarding school back home is very important, especially for girls,” she says. “So I said, ‘That sounds good, putting my children in boarding school, and then coming to visit them — oh, that’s a good idea.’ ”
So the family organized her documents and brought her all the way to Seattle. But things were bad. Her duties far exceeded those of the job back home. She took care of a 2-year-old and a baby and all of the family’s meals — cooking, cleaning, gardening and more.
“I was responsible for everything, except only their body they washed by themselves. But I was responsible for everything,” she says.
She worked almost 100 hours a week. The couple paid her $70 a month and insisted that she talk to no one.
“Why did these people do this to me?” she says. “It really make me sad when I remember this story.”
But, eventually, this woman did get away and contacted an immigration attorney.
Charges were brought against the couple she worked for, and she was able to recover her proper wages. That’s a rare good outcome for these kinds of cases.
U.S. Has To Be Better At Identifying Victims
Erik Breitzke, who heads the human trafficking unit for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, says human trafficking is one of the most hidden crimes in the U.S.
“We’re dealing with foreign-born victims, who are often in the United States illegally, may not speak the language, come from a country where their cultural norms and mores are different or there may be social caste systems in place, and where law enforcement may be generally distrusted,” he says.
The State Department won’t give an estimate of how many victims there are right now in the U.S. But this woman is among about 300 people who last year received a visa specifically designated for human trafficking victims.
The State Department says the U.S. has to do a better job at identifying these victims. Breitzke says it’s a matter of educating law enforcement about what to look for.
“It’s very easy to understand force in terms of a physical assault, but what about psychological coercion? But what about a threat against a family member, what about a threat against a child who’s left in a home country?” he says. “We want to make the light bulb go off and to recognize that something might be going on here that they need to follow up with.”
Back in Seattle, Kathleen Morris with Washington state’s anti-trafficking group says she’s hopeful these days.
“There has been great movement in the United States over the last 10 years to address this issue,” she says. “We’re really at a good place right now as far as attention to it.”
Meanwhile, the woman who went through it all has made a new life for herself. She has a job in health care. And, after years without seeing her kids, they’re finally together again. She’s at her own apartment in Seattle, making her daughters beef with ugali — a staple all over East Africa.